The Extra in a Baseball Novel

“Wow… This is truly an incredible defensive play, even when you watch it again. Just catching that was impressive, but who would have thought he’d go for a double play with that glove toss?”

“I completely agree. Cha Taehyun’s defense was clean, but Andy John’s sense was equally remarkable, wasn’t it? Catching Cha Taehyun’s throw with his bare hand and then throwing it! Without that, the double play would have been impossible. Compared to last year, the Phoenix’s infield defense has improved drastically!”

└ Wow… I’m speechless.

└ Is this… really the Phoenix’s infield?

└ I can’t believe it!

└ Last year, it wouldn’t have been a double play, but double advancement instead.

└ LOL, seriously. They wouldn’t have caught even one of them and would have given up a run.

└ Well, technically, it wasn’t an easy ball to catch; Taehyun managed to do it.

└ Damn, can a single rookie really change the atmosphere this much?

The Volcanoes’ pitcher, who took the mound in the bottom of the first inning, was Lee Subin, last year’s first-round pick.

He’s a rookie who has just joined the pros, but he performed well in practice games and has garnered the high expectations of Volcanoes fans.

Despite being a rookie, he’s not an easy pitcher.

Of course, to fans, a rookie is just a rookie. Not many fans keep up with practice games, after all.

‘He’ll be heavily criticized if he doesn’t hit…’

Leadoff batter Jin Taehyun raised his bat.

Lee Subin wound up and threw the first pitch. A fast inside four-seam pitch with decent control, but Jin Taehyun reacted swiftly.

– Crack!

A clean hit. The ball flew straight.

It had the speed to make a base hit, but unfortunately, it went directly to the shortstop.

“Out!”

After effortlessly taking down the first batter, Lee Subin raised one corner of his mouth, and the camera quickly captured the moment.

“Haha! Lee Subin seems quite confident.”

“That’s the spirit of a rookie. Didn’t he just fearlessly throw a four-seam against Jin Taehyun? The new rookies these days are really something.”

└ Look at that cockiness. Is he for real?

└ What’s with this arrogant rookie? Tsk tsk.

└ These people praised Cha Taehyun’s smirk but criticize this. Hypocrites LOL.

└ Taehyun’s smirk looks genuinely cool, so it’s acceptable.

└ What…;;

Next up was the second batter, Lee Joon.

‘Gotta be careful with Lee Joon…’

Even though he has no championship titles and is known as the “Crownless King” and the “Ghost of Second Place,” it means he always finishes second. And second place is no low rank. ŗΑ𐌽Ő𐌱ĚŞ

Lee Subin tried his best to lure Lee Joon with breaking balls.

“Strike—out!”

After a full-count battle, he threw a decisive changeup, striking out even Lee Joon.

└ Sigh, seems like our batters have lost their touch today.

└ Getting beaten up by a rookie? What a joke.

└ Hey, guys, the lineup hasn’t even gone around once. Isn’t it too early to panic?

└ Does it make sense for an 8-billion-won player to strike out against a rookie?

└ Seriously, so many Lee Joon fans here. Is he a mole from the Winners?

└ Caught me, LOL. Lee Joon is the best!

└ Ugh, just get lost already.

The Sajik Stadium crowd, who were smiling after Cha Taehyun’s great defense, started to look like enraged Chihuahuas. At that moment…

– Crack!

The third batter, Andy, hit a clean outside four-seam pitch for a base hit.

“Andy! Andy! Andy!”

As if they hadn’t been grumpy a moment ago, the crowd began cheering and chanting Andy’s name.

Andy raised his fist and roared.

“This! Is! Andy!!!”

‘You’d think he hit a home run…’

Lee Subin shook his head as he watched Andy deliver an uppercut to the crowd.

***

– Waaaah!!

The moment fourth batter Cha Taehyun stepped into the batter’s box, the crowd erupted into deafening cheers.

“Wow… With that popularity, you wouldn’t even think he’s a rookie. Changhyun, didn’t you say he’s your junior?”

As his senior approached, Kim Changhyun quickly wiped off his smile and nodded.

“Is he that good? I think Subin is pitching out of his mind today.”

Kim Changhyun inadvertently let out a scoff but quickly cleared his throat.

“Ahem… I apologize, a sudden sneeze. Subin’s pitching is indeed good, but I don’t think he can handle Cha Taehyun.”

His senior tilted his head.

“Huh? Aren’t you overestimating him just because he’s your junior? You saw Subin’s pitches today too. He even struck out Lee Joon. Sure, he got hit by the foreign player, but everyone makes a mistake once in a while.”

“Even so, I don’t think he can beat Cha Taehyun.”

His senior had already spoken to the point where one might back down, but Kim Changhyun remained firm.

“Wanna bet on it? Loser buys the team dinner.”

Even if they didn’t call the entire first team, calling just the pitchers’ unit would easily exceed ten people. For rookie Kim Changhyun, it was quite a burdensome bet.

“Sure. I’ll bet on Cha Taehyun getting a hit.”

Kim Changhyun confidently placed his bet on Cha Taehyun.

“Are you serious? You said it?”

“Yes, I’m serious. Watch.”

He calmly turned his eyes to the mound.

If this had been the old him, he might have nervously prayed, ‘Please hit it, Cha Taehyun!’ But not now.

Lee Subin wound up and threw.

A perfectly tight inside four-seam, clocking easily over 150 km/h, darted fiercely toward the mitt. It was a tricky pitch, even for experienced hitters in the league.

– Crack!

Cha Taehyun, however, made contact with ease and grace.

“Wha… What?”

His senior rushed to the dugout fence and watched the ball soar over the fence with an astonished look.

Cha Taehyun threw the bat aside and ran toward first base as the crowd erupted, chanting his name like a crashing wave.

With a satisfied grin, Kim Changhyun found himself standing up unconsciously.

“That’s it! Cha—”

“Cha…?”

He found himself facing the greatest crisis since his professional debut.

With all eyes on him, Kim Changhyun, suddenly blank, blurted out something incomprehensible.

“Cha… learning the harsh reality is the only way to become an ace… is what I want to tell Subin.”

The dugout of the Volcanoes team went ice-cold.

***

There’s a reason rookies, unless they’re exceptionally good, are developed in the second team.

The gap in skill between the high school leagues and professional leagues, the experience of playing in front of large crowds—there are numerous reasons.

But the most significant is the mental aspect.

A pitcher, especially one sensitive to mental stress, can easily lose their composure in an unfamiliar environment and with limited experience.

Lee Subin, who had given up a home run to me on the first pitch, allowed hit after hit without recording a single out, eventually giving up five more runs and getting knocked out. It wasn’t surprising.

“This scary guy… He didn’t just establish dominance; he practically destroyed him.”

Well, yes, I did mess with his mental state.

“I’d say the one who finished him off was Shin Siwoo. If I were him, I’d want to die if you got a hit off me.”

“Wha-what?”

There’s no point in acting all shocked. It’s true.

During the practice games, Shin Siwoo had a batting average of only .210, faithfully following Phoenix’s tradition of having hopeless catchers.

“Still, if I landed the final blow, that means I contributed too, right? I did well.”

“Sure… Congrats, but don’t relax just yet. The game isn’t over.”

“Huh? We got a 7-run lead in the first inning.”

I leaned closer to Shin Siwoo and whispered.

“Don’t you know our bullpen?”

Realizing what I meant, Shin Siwoo quickly picked up his mitt and got ready for the exchange.

***

After the Volcanoes changed pitchers, we couldn’t score any more runs, but the same went for the Volcanoes.

“You’re doing great, Aibo!!”

Though it was a bit embarrassing when he kept demanding this weird double-cross ceremony, whenever I did it for him in the dugout, Roun continued pitching excellently up to the fourth inning. The relief pitcher, Sean White, also maintained a scoreless game until the seventh inning.

– “Busan Phoenix! Busan Phoenix! Burn bright!”

With such a clean game, even the team cheer song, which rarely played, resounded throughout Sajik Stadium, raising the atmosphere to a fever pitch.

It would’ve been great if this festive mood had continued to the end…

“You think you’re a pro?”

“Does this even make sense?”

“Stop throwing balls and put some strikes in there!”

“Does Cha Sihwan even know how to pitch?”

Sihwan, who was pitching in the first-team game for the first time, managed to get two outs but started to

lose control, throwing ball after ball.

After walking in a run, another relief pitcher was brought in, but there wasn’t much difference.

Ball, ball, ball… more balls, giving up five runs in the eighth inning alone.

Of course, with nine runs already in hand, we weren’t in danger of losing the lead.

So the fans stayed, which was… the problem.

The ninth inning was… Hmm…

Even now, after the game, it’s shocking to think about.

“Aaargh! Does it make sense to give up two grand slams in one inning?!”

Shin Hayoon, who had been analyzing the data with Rapsodo, suddenly yelled.

She seemed to be on the brink of losing her mind, but I understood. Even the spectators were on the verge of going berserk. How could Shin Hayoon, who carefully analyzes every detail for coaching, not go crazy?

“But you already knew, didn’t you? That Phoenix’s bullpen is hopeless.”

Shin Hayoon let out a big sigh.

“Yeah… I knew. I knew, but… We really could have won. And there were some decent bullpen pitchers available, but they didn’t use them.”

She was right. Though most of the key bullpen was injured, there were still resources like Yoo Min-seung and Kang Hoon.

While they weren’t top-notch relievers, they wouldn’t have allowed two grand slams in one inning.

Because of that, Director Lee Eun-seok, who had been praised as “Diamond-seok,” “Lee Geum-seok,” and “Lee Hwang-seok,” was now being called “Lee Dung-seok,” “Lee Stone-seok,” and “Lee Mud-seok.”

I certainly understand the fans’ anger, but I respect the director’s decision.

“When else would you test them if not during an exhibition game?”

All the bullpen pitchers who got hit today were called up from the second team or were backup bullpen pitchers. The director, finding the current bullpen inadequate, probably wanted to test if any of them could be useful.

“That’s… true. Yeah… I prepared some feedback while watching the game.”

The paper Shin Hayoon handed over was filled with detailed notes, almost like a scratch pad.

It was a reminder of her dedication and talent as a coach.

We need to get her hired by Phoenix soon…

“Anyway, please make sure to deliver this… And, uh… Are you going home now?”

“Yeah, where else would I go?”

Shin Hayoon hesitated, fumbling with her hands.

“If you need to ask for something, just say it. I’m always getting help from you.”

“Well… I know it’s a lot to ask, but I haven’t received any pay… So, I was wondering if you could come to my house?”

“No, I said I’d pay you, but you refused.”

“That’s true, but… Never mind, I’m just asking. Could you please come to my house?”

Well, I have received a lot of free help from her. It’s not a big deal.

She helped me adjust my batting stance to fit my body better, and she gave me feedback on today’s game.

“I don’t mind, but why?”

“Today’s my mom’s birthday. I haven’t been able to do much for her, and I want to give her a special present. She’ll be home soon after work.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Huh?”

Shin Hayoon looked at me with wide eyes.

“Well, your mom likes me. That’s why you want me to go, right?”

“Uh… That’s right.”

A faint smile escaped my lips.

“Then that’s great. Why the weird reaction? Let’s go. I’ve been feeling a bit guilty for using you as free labor all the time.”

Shin Hayoon quietly smiled, nodded, and pulled my hand.

When I asked why she suddenly grabbed my hand, she replied that she had to guide me since I didn’t know the way.

It was a ridiculous response, but seeing how excited she was, I just silently followed.

—